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It's a pity the Documentary festival isn't leaving the North island - of course here in Dunedin we're annually treated to a one-of-a-kind documentary festival when the students doing the Natural History Film Making course at the Uni present their work (some samples here)

One of the best documentaries I have ever seen is Gerard Smythe's Out of sight out of mind about the de-institutionalisation of Templeton. For some fortuitous reason it did get a screening on free to air TV, just before Christmas 2004. However, I doubt that a recent documentary in that genre, Mental Notes, about psychiatric institution survivors, will get a TV release. For some reason programmers think we just want to watch reality TV shows.

One of the best documentaries I have ever seen is Gerard Smythe’s Out of sight out of mind about the de-institutionalisation of Templeton.

Gerard's work is such a strong argument for for the non-formatted auteur documentary in New Zealand. I haven't seen that one, but his Alun Bollinger doco was magic.

For some fortuitous reason it did get a screening on free to air TV, just before Christmas 2004. However, I doubt that a recent documentary in that genre, Mental Notes, about psychiatric institution survivors, will get a TV release. For some reason programmers think we just want to watch reality TV shows.

To be fair, that's probably because a large promotion of those of us in the all-important target demographics do want that. Which isn't to say that a strong documentary can't hold an audience -- it's just hard getting the audience to watch in the first place.

That weed doco featuring Dakta Green on TV3 a few months back was pretty good, and it had a few surprises in store.

Even so, the moment reality TV jumps the shark can’t come soon enough. We need someone like the Chasers crew or Jay Pryor to deconstruct the shit out of it. I’m thinking Roman gladiator revivals and live vigilante snuff à la The Running Man, with the shock value of Cannibal Holocaust. Jeux de la Mort came close, but no cigar.

To be fair, that's probably because a large promotion of those of us in the all-important target demographics do want that.

Yeah, nah. Do we actually get the choice? If you don't have access to Sky or TelstraSky, or one of the few places that Freeview actually show (j/k) then this crap is all you get. It's a self-fulling prophecy - "this crap is what they watch so we'll give them more of this crap".

Most of the "reality" crap is purchased because it's cheap to make, and therefore (theoretically) cheaper to purchase. It's there to bookend ads, so the programmers don't care if it's any good or not. Most people will watch whatever is put in front of them, and they're encouraged to do so by the hype and bullshit that the channels throw at them about upcoming shows. Even otherwise intelligent people seem to tweet about shit like Project Runway or Masterchef Rotovegas or somesuch, so they must be watching it, god help them.

We don't, in our house. Telly watching time is tea time - 8:30ish - and none of it is "reality television" and never has been. There's some stuff we'll watch in realtime (Homeland was awesome!) and when there isn't, we'll pick up something we've recorded that was broadcast at an inconvenient time. I do wonder sometimes why we have cable TV and a large screen when we watch so little, but I like to enjoy the stuff I do watch and I can always hook a computer up to the screen when I want to. Mainstream TV is pretty much "bread and circuses" as far as I can see, with sweet FA bread involved.

On the other side, the chattering classes, said “we need to do more in-depth docos.” But the problem with that is they were so deep they disappeared. No one saw them. It devalued the form. They were earnest, preachy, polemical.

I've heard one problem is that when you ask people what sort of programmes they want to see on TV, they'll say quality documentaries. But when it comes to what they actually watch, it's different. If you've been having a busy day, you might not feel like watching a serious doco. You might just feel like blobbing out and watching a CSI or a Law and Order.

I'm really excited about the new GC series, but I also like a good doco. There were a lot of good ones in the NZ Film Festival last year. They're still being made - and these days it's possible to make a really good looking doco on a low budget - but it seems it's harder to get the docos broadcast on the telly.

Most people will watch whatever is put in front of them, and they're encouraged to do so by the hype and bullshit that the channels throw at them about upcoming shows. Even otherwise intelligent people seem to tweet about shit like Project Runway or Masterchef Rotovegas or somesuch, so they must be watching it, god help them.